Fool Me Twice
by digigirl132
Summary: Crossover with Phantom Brave, spoilers for Bleach up to current. Hitsugaya Toushirou has to travel to a remote island for an assignment, but things get crazy when he meets a young girl named Marona. Could she be the answer to all the Shinigami's problems?
1. 1: arrival

I have a few important things to mention before this can begin. First off, this story takes place about twenty years in the future from the current Bleach chapters. The war with Aizen and the espada is still going on, and it looks like there's no end in sight. That's all I can say without spoiling the story, though. You'll find out the rest as you read. In terms of Phantom Brave, this story takes place early on in the game, like around chapter 7 or so. I think that's all you need to know for now, so go ahead and enjoy!

oOo

Hitusgaya Toushirou couldn't believe that he was being sent on a mission like this. It was a time of war and he, a captain, was being sent to take care of something this simple? His strength was needed elsewhere. Someone else could have been sent. It's not like performing a konso on a whole was a difficult task. Any Shinigami could do it. So, why him?

Getting to the location was easy enough. It was an island located in the middle of an archipelago in the North Pacific Ocean. He couldn't believe how tiny some of the islands were. The particular island he had to go to was just big enough to fit one house! True, there was a boat there as well, but Toushirou still couldn't believe that someone would live in such an isolated place. Ah well. To each his own.

It looked like there wasn't anyone home at the moment. That was good. At least he wouldn't have to worry about disturbing anyone who lived there. Now for the task of finding this whole. It had to be around here somewhere…Toushirou looked in both the front and backyards, but he didn't find it. He noticed that there were lots of flowers everywhere, and that the grass was very green. Whoever lived here must take good care of their yard, he thought.

He turned his attention back to his search. This was becoming difficult. The whole in question must have been weak, since he couldn't even feel it's presence. He looked around quickly once more before his gaze settled on the small house. Maybe it was in there? It couldn't hurt to look. Besides, the sooner he finished this, the sooner he could go back.

Toushirou tested the front door. It was shut, but not locked. He was about to open the door when he heard a voice behind him say, "You know, it's not polite to go in someone's house without permission."

He quickly turned around, hand on his sword and ready to draw it, but he stopped when he saw who was behind him. It was a spirit, most likely the one he was here for. It looked to be just a little older than himself, there wasn't anything too strange about it. So, he decided to go ahead and explain things. "I'm sorry it took so long to get to you," he said, "But now it's time to send you on to Soul Society."

The spirit looked at Toushirou curiously as he said, "Soul Society? Is that what the next life is called? In any case, thanks but no thanks. I have to take care of Marona."

Toushirou frowned. Of course this spirit had to be difficult. "You don't have much of a choice," he said, "I can't just leave you here. You would be devoured by a hollow. Actually, I'm surprised that you've gone so long without becoming a hollow yourself."

The spirit shook his head. He said, "I'm grateful for your concern, but really, it's not necessary. I can take care of myself. These hollows, whatever they are, aren't a threat to me."

"Many stronger than you have fallen to them," Toushirou said, sounding a bit sad as he did so, "Trust me, it would be safer for you to go to Soul Society."

Toushirou drew his sword and held it in such a way that the hilt was pointed at the spirit. The mark on the end of the hilt would take care of things quickly. He said, "It will only take a second, and it won't hurt at all."

The spirit backed up as Toushirou drew his sword. "There's no need to get violent," he said, sounding a bit worried, "We don't need to fight."

Toushirou sighed. "We're not fighting," he said, "I'm trying to send you to Soul Society. Pressing this mark against your forehead will do that."

The spirit, who looked like he was beginning to get flustered, said, "I told you, I don't want to go to this Soul Society place! Just let me live in peace already."

Suddenly another voice, this one belonging to a girl, yelled, "You leave Ash alone you big meanie!"

A brick hit Toushirou in the head, knocking him over. He lay there on the ground for a moment, trying to figure out what just happened. A brick…? He lifted a hand up to his head, then pulled it away. No blood, but his head hurt. He would probably have a nasty bruise later. What in the world was going on here?

Toushirou sat up and looked over to where the brick had come from. A green-haired girl, just a bit younger than he was, stood there, and she looked angry. The spirit from before, who was apparently named Ash, said, "Marona! You shouldn't throw bricks at people!"

The girl, Marona, looked to Ash and pointed at Toushirou as she said, "He was gonna hurt you!"

"No I wasn't," Toushirou said, then flinched and held his forehead. Great, now his head hurt. This wasn't going to make things any easier.

Marona looked to Toushirou again and said, "Yes you were! Why would you draw your sword on him if you weren't gonna hurt him?"

Toushirou sighed. "I'm just trying to help him move on," he said, sounding annoyed, "I'm not going to hurt him. Trust me, things are better on the other side. He'll be happy there."

He thought that this would calm the girl down. However, it did just the opposite. "You already have my mom and dad," Marona said, "Do you really need Ash too?"

Toushirou was getting more frustrated by the minute. His words just weren't getting through to this pair. The fact that he was bad at talking to people probably had something to do with that. He might have to resort to violence after all. Unless…Toushirou pulled out his phone and pressed a few buttons. The phone beeped angrily at him. He paused, then tried pushing a few more buttons. Another angry beep was all that happened. Then he noticed that he had an unread message, so he opened it up and read it.

All connections to the human world have been temporarily closed. We are sorry for this inconvenience.

What the- was something wrong back home? Now Toushirou was beginning to get worried. Several years ago he would have thought of this as a minor inconvenience, but nowadays something like this could be a disaster. At least, that's what the more paranoid mind of one Hitsugaya Toushirou thought. It worried him to the point where he had forgotten about the other two people present entirely. At least until Marona blew on a whistle loudly, that is.

Toushirou looked over to Marona angrily as he held his hands against his ears and said, "What is your problem!"

"You're not listening to me," she said matter-of-factly, "I said, you better just leave now, 'cuz I won't let you take Ash away!"

Toushirou gritted his teeth. Why did she have to be so annoying? "You know what," he said, "More important things have come up, and I can't send him to Soul Society right now anyways! Just stop already!"

Ash raised an eyebrow at Toushirou's outburst. Marona didn't seem so angry now, either. She was a bit surprised too. "You have some serious anger management problems," she said.

Toushirou let out an irritated noise and was about to yell at Marona, but he stopped himself. He took a deep breath, then counted to ten before he calmly said, "I'm leaving now. I'll be back, though."

He turned and started to walk away. Marona called after him, but he ignored her. Once he reached the edge of the garden, though, he stopped. They were on an island, and Toushirou couldn't go back to Soul Society. The closest island was miles away, and he doubted that he could make it that far without a boat. His bankai wouldn't last long enough. In short, he was at the mercy of the very people who had driven him to such frustration.

Today was not Toushirou's day.

He heard light footsteps behind him, and he heard Marona say, "How are you going to leave? Can you fly or something?"

Toushirou tried his best to not lash out again. "No. No I can't," he said slowly.

Marona stopped a few feet behind him. "Well, then how are you leaving," she asked, "If you need a ride to the next island-"

Without a word, Toushirou walked to the very edge of the beach. He went as far down as he could without getting wet, then sat down in the sand. Marona paused, then turned back to Ash and called out, "I guess he's waiting."

Ash made his way down to where Marona was, then stopped. "Don't worry," he said, "Go ahead and make yourself lunch. I'll keep an eye on him."

oOo

By the end of the third hour Toushirou was seriously regretting his decision. It turned out that Ash and Marona weren't the only people on the island. There were at least ten other spirits present, and they all took turns bothering him. The current one was some sort of rabbit, and it seemed to delight in getting really close to Toushirou and saying "I'm not touching yooooou!"

It took a great deal of restraint to keep from utterly destroying that little spirit. Never in his life had he been bothered so badly. And, given the crowd he hung around with, that was saying something. This really was a bad day.

Toushirou tried not to let the rabbit thing know that it was bothering him, so he looked away. That's when he saw a new creature. This one was a bottle, but it had arms and legs. It looked odd, that's for sure. The rabbit seemed to see it too, and it ran off as it said, "Oi, Marona! Mail!"

That was mail? Toushirou thought that it was weird. Actually, it wasn't just that. Everything about this island was weird. It was as if logic took a break when it got to this place.

Marona ran out of the house and down to where the bottle was. She squatted down next to it and said cheerfully, "Hi there! Do you have some mail for us?"

The bottle nodded and handed Marona a letter. Marona gave the bottle a coin, and the bottle waddled off towards the sea. Then Marona opened the letter and read it. Whatever it was, she seemed to be happier as she read it. When she was done she folded the letter back up, and ran towards the nearby rock Ash was sitting on as she said, "Ash! Ash! We have a job!"

Ash looked happy as well. "A job? Awesome! Where is it?"

Toushirou couldn't hear the rest of their chatter, since the rabbit had decided to bother him some more. Now it was screeching loudly at him. Toushirou covered his ears and said, "Could you stop already?"

The rabbit paused. "No," it said, then went back to screeching.

After half a minute or so of this Marona scolded the rabbit, then sent it away. Then she turned her attention to Toushirou. "Say," she said, "We're leaving now. Are you sure you don't want a ride?"

The last thing Toushirou wanted to do was accept help from the people. However…He looked over his shoulder at all the other spirits, and they all grinned back at him. "Actually," he said, still looking at the spirits, "I think I'll take you up on the offer."

oOo

Marona looked around sadly at the village. Everyone had already been evacuated from this area, and it looked empty. She couldn't help but feel badly. These people had to leave everything behind and flee for their lives. She had to stop the monster that was causing all this fear. She looked down at the letter once more, then said, "It says that the monster is in the nearby forest. Are you ready, Ash?"

Ash nodded. "I'm ready, but…" he jabbed a thumb over in Toushirou's direction. "Why is he still here? Wasn't he supposed to go off on his own now?"

Toushirou scowled at Ash and said, "I wanted to see how you two plan on defeating this monster," he said simply.

Of course, that wasn't the truth. Hitsugaya could tell that this monster was actually a hollow. As soon as Ash and Marona had their backs turned he was going to sneak off and fight it. Though this did present a problem…the gateways were still closed. What would happen to the spirit? Maybe he should let these two mess around with the hollow for a bit, at least until the gateways were open again. The hollow didn't seem to be that strong, so as long as he kept a close eye on them then they should be fine.

While Ash may have been bothered by Toushirou's presence, Marona certainly wasn't. In fact, she was being downright friendly to him. Apparently, as long as you weren't threatening her or her friends, you could be on her good side. "Alright," Marona said, "But stay close. It could be dangerous."

Toushirou doubted that he was in any danger, but he still nodded in agreement. He said, "Alright, I'll be careful."

It didn't take long for them to find the hollow. In fact, just as they were at the edge of the woods, the thing came running out of it about three hundred feet to their left. "There it is," Marona yelled as she pointed at it, "Are you ready, Ash?"

"Yeah," Ash said.

Marona looked around quickly, then settled on a nearby rock. Her hands began to glow ever so slightly, as did Ash. She ran up to the rock and slammed her hands against it as she yelled, "Confine!"

Ash disappeared from where he had been standing. A bright light flashed, and the rock disappeared. In it's place stood Ash, and he was holding a really big sword. There was something a bit different about him, though. He was more…solid was the word Toushirou thought of first. It sort of reminded him of how shinigami take control of a gigai. However, it was as if Ash had replaced the rock all together.

The hollow noticed Ash after this transformation, and it roared before it began to charge at him. Ash ran at the hollow, but jumped a few feet in front of it. On his decent he let out a burst of energy and swung his sword at the hollow, cutting it cleanly in half. The hollow faded away as Ash landed on the ground.

Toushirou couldn't believe his eyes. How could a spirit like this be so strong? Sure, the hollow was a weak one, but a non-shinigami shouldn't have been able to beat it in one hit! What in the world was going on here?

Ash stood up and looked back at Marona with a grin. "Done," he said.

Marona cheered. "Alright Ash," she said, "Now we can collect the reward and add it to our savings!"

Ash nodded, then said, "We should probably check the island over once, though. There might be more monsters like this here."

Marona nodded, then turned to look at Toushirou. She smiled up at him as she said, "Well, what do you think? We can take care of ourselves. You don't have to worry about anything."

Toushirou was inclined to agree with Marona, but he said nothing. This power was amazing. Ash hadn't seemed so strong before, but after Marona used her strange power he had become a lot stronger. Maybe she had the power to unlock someone's hidden power? He didn't know. One thing was for sure, though: Toushirou couldn't go back to Soul Society quite yet. Even though he was worried about his friends back home, he had to stay here. Marona and her strange powers might prove useful. The trick was getting Ash and Marona to let him stay. "Yes, that was pretty good," he said, "But I'm still not convinced."

He paused, then said, "You might be able to convince me, though…why not let me stay with you for a few days and see for myself? I can't go back right now anyways, and if you manage to convince me that you can take care of yourselves then I'll let you be."

Marona looked so happy at that. "Do you mean it," she asked excitedly.

"I wouldn't say something that I didn't mean," he said. Then he looked at Ash and said, "Are you okay with it?"

Ash looked a bit suspicious. "I don't know," he said, "Just a little while ago you couldn't wait to leave. Why do you want to stay all of a sudden?"

Toushirou pointed to where the hollow had been previously. "That was before I saw that," he said, "Now I'm interested."

Ash thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "Okay," he said, "As long as you don't try to pull one over on us or hurt Marona. I'm going to keep an eye on you."

"I'll behave," Toushirou said.

"Alright, then you can stay for a little bit," Marona said. Then she pointed to herself as she said, "I'm Marona, and this is Ash."

Toushirou nodded. Then he said, "I'm Hitsugaya Toushirou. It's nice to meet you both."

As he said his introductions, Toushirou couldn't help but wonder what sort of adventure these next few days were going to be.

oOo

Author's notes

I'm still getting used to the new FF.N system. Well, it's new for me, at least. I haven't posted anything here in a couple years. What I'd really like to know is why the thing keeps eating my dividers. sighs ah well. If you want to read this in it's original form (which isn't too different from this one, really), then head over to my livejournal. The table for this is in one of my past entries. Also, major props to my beta, cherakin.


	2. 2: Kitchen

Toushirou was hungry.

Actually, that didn't do him justice. He had gone three days without eating. Toushirou was downright famished. He didn't want to ask Marona for food, though. It seemed like her finances were stretched thin already. Adding another hungry mouth would put even more of a strain on things.

That didn't get rid of his hunger, though. Toushirou sighed as he leaned against the garden fence. He had planned to stay here for a week or so, but he didn't know if he could go that long without food. He was so hungry that it was hard to concentrate. How was he supposed to evaluate Marona's skills if his stomach kept distracting him?

"Hitsugaya-san!"

Toushirou's eye twitched. He had become familiar with that voice all too quickly. Now wasn't the best time for a chat, either, but he tried his best to be polite. He looked up and said, "Yes, Marona?"

Marona frolicked over to where Toushirou was sitting. She stopped right in front of him, then squatted down so that she was at eye level with him. "What's wrong," she said, sounding genuinely worried, "You look so sad."

"I'm not sad," he said, "It's just-"

Right then Toushirou's stomach growled. He turned a bit pink and looked away. Of course his problems had to be put into the spotlight. This could be a blessing in disguise, though. Maybe she would finally get a clue.

Of course, she didn't. Marona merely tilted her head slightly and said, "Hitsugaya-san, was that your tummy?"

Toushirou was quiet for a moment. When he did speak it was strained, as if he weren't too happy about the situation. "Yes…"

Marona was still confused. Why would his tummy growl? Wasn't he dead? Marona, being the curious girl that she is, decided to ask about it and said, "You get hungry?"

Toushirou nodded. He stole a glance at Marona and saw that she still had a confused look on her face. He began a long and complicated explanation as to why he needed to eat. "…So you see," he said, finishing up his lecture, "Shinigami need to eat."

Marona still had a blank look on her face. "I don't get all that complicated stuff."

Toushirou sighed then said, "Shinigami are special. My stomach wouldn't be growling if I didn't need to eat, would it?"

The wheels were slowly turning in Marona's head. She definitely got that he had to eat, but she didn't quite get why. That didn't really matter to her, though. Hunger was hunger, regardless who feels it. She stood up quickly and said with a smile, "Okay! I'll make you some food then!"

Toushirou was a bit surprised by that. He hadn't actually expected Marona to do anything about his current problem. When he didn't get up right away, Marona grabbed his hand and dragged him to his feet. "C'mon," she said cheerfully, "I'm a really good cook! What kind of food do you like? Do you like fish? I could make takoyaki! Wait, that takes a while to make…maybe just sushi? Or curry. Curry is always good! Or maybe…"

Toushirou just listened to Marona babble on as she led him to the house. He didn't really feel like interrupting her. There were more pressing issues on his mind. The main thing on his mind was why someone would be so accommodating to a guest. He was the one who insisted on staying, after all. She shouldn't have to change her schedule just because of him. When they reached the house he started to protest, but Marona quickly shushed him. Once they were in the kitchen Marona let go of his hand and went over to a cupboard to dig out cooking utensils. As she did so she continued to chatter. "I can really make just about anything. What do you like the most, Hitsugaya-san?"

Toushirou opened his mouth to protest, but he stopped himself. He closed his mouth, then started to talk a moment later. "Well, anything is alright…"

He tried to remember one of the dishes Marona mentioned. Did he like any of those? Finally he said, "Curry?"

Marona smiled up at Toushirou from where she was sitting and said, "Okay, I can make that! My curry is pretty good! Well, I think so, at least. Ash doesn't eat, so he can't tell if it's good or not."

Toushirou thought that Marona was going to babble on again, but this time she didn't. Instead she hummed as she cooked. Not knowing what else to do, Toushirou just stood there and watched. Marona didn't seem to be bothered by his presence. At least, she didn't tell him to leave. After some time she was done, and she scooped some curry onto two plates and carried them over to the table. "It's ready!"

Toushirou looked around to see if any other spirits were coming. None appeared, so he sat down at the table. He eyed the food carefully, secretly wondering if Marona had put anything in it. It looked fairly normal. He glanced up at Marona and saw that she was patiently waiting for him to take a bite. So, with a quick movement of his hands, he picked up his chopsticks and grabbed a bit of the food. He eyed it more closely, then looked to Marona again. She was still sitting there, the same goofy smile on her face. Finally he stuck the food in his mouth and ate.

Despite his negative attitude, Toushirou was thoroughly impressed. This was actually pretty good. He chewed thoughtfully for a few moments, then swallowed and said, "…decent."

Marona's face lit up at that comment. "Really," she said, "I'm so glad! I was kinda worried, since you're the first one to eat my food besides me."

Then she picked up her chopsticks and munched away happily at her food. Her comment, however, made Toushirou pause. He was the first person to eat her cooking? He felt a bit special at that moment. A second thought soon invaded his mind, though. Why was he the first one to eat her cooking? Were all her friends spirits or something?

His thoughts were interrupted by Marona when she said, "Whatcha thinkin about?"

Toushirou shook his head. Those thoughts were private, and Marona didn't need to hear them. "Nothing," he said, then went back to eating.


	3. 3: Flood

Toushirou was one of those hard to impress people. He liked to believe that he had seen everything, and he though he might be caught off-guard at times, he liked to believe that he was prepared. In all his life Toushirou could count only four times he had been left in awe, and only one of those involved someone who, at that time, was only an acquaintance.

The day in question was like any other. He was busy observing Marona and trying to figure out the secrets to her power. Of course, that was hard to do when Marona wasn't actually using her powers. She hadn't gotten another job offer since that first fight. It wasn't until about a week afterwards, when Toushirou was about to give up and go home, that another job offer came.

"I don't know what you have planned, but it's not going to work," Toushirou said as he stared down at the mess at their feet, "We're going to have to clean this by hand."

Marona sighed. "I wish we didn't have to. This is disgusting," she said, indicating to the mess.

Ash seemed to feel like he had to give words of encouragement to Marona, and he said, "It could work, if you're careful."

The mess in question was a large flood that had destroyed part of a house. There was water, mixed with dirt and other things, everywhere, and there was probably water damage underneath the filth. For a moment Toushirou thought about helping them, but he quickly dismissed that though. He was here to see how they worked, not the other way around.

They must have had a plan, though, because today they had brought someone else with them. A little girl in a poofy red outfit rounded out the group. Currently, though, she was just floating there next to them. Toushirou looked to the little spirit, then to Marona and said, "Well, whatever you have planned, go ahead and do it. Just standing here won't accomplish anything."

Marona picked through some of the debris as she said, "I know, I know, just gimme a minute."

As she dug through the pile of debris she paused occasionally to consider an item. The first couple times she did this she was apparently dissatisfied, since she threw it over her shoulder and continued to dig. Finally, though, she picked up what looked like an animal skull and said, "Aha! This will work!"

She tossed it to the ground in front of the others. Ash nodded approvingly, but Toushirou just stared at it. "Okay," he said, sounding apprehensive, "And this is supposed to do…?"

"This!" Marona placed her hands on the skull, and it started to glow slightly. The little spirit with them glowed as well. It disappeared momentarily, then suddenly reappeared in place of the skull. The little spirit, which appeared much more solid now, twirled and giggled, apparently approving of her new form.

Toushirou continued to stare. "…I don't see how this will help the situation."

Marona nodded to the spirit and said, "You know what to do, Holly!"

The spirit giggled once more, then pointed her hand at the building. "Omega ice!"

Toushirou honestly wasn't expecting that much. He thought that, at most, an icicle would form. He was greatly surprised when the little spirit managed to turn every drop of water in that flood into ice, freezing everything. Then, after a few moments the ice shattered and disappeared, leaving only dirt and dry plants to clean up. The flood had been taken care of in half the time it would have taken Toushirou to do the same thing. Needless to say, he was in awe. "How…how…"

He looked to Marona as he pointed at the spirit. "How did she do that! I could feel her reitsu before, and it wasn't anywhere near strong enough to do that!"

"Of course not," Ash said in a tone that seemed to say 'what are you, stupid?' as he crossed his arms in front of him, "She wasn't confined yet. No spirit would have been strong enough to do that unconfined."

That limited explanation went right over Toushirou's head. It was about as affective as explaining rocket science to the boy in the same amount of words. Marona noticed this, and she tugged on Ash's sleeve and said, "Ash, I don't think he knows what confining is. I'll explain it to him."

Marona wandered over to the rubble pile and picked up a brick. "You see," she said, "Stuff like this has properties. This brick, for example, would make it harder to hurt you. And the skull that I confined Holly to? It makes magic super-strong. It works with everything, too. A plant would make you healthier, a rock would make you stronger, and so forth."

There was a pause. "Though it works the other way too," she said thoughtfully, "some things can make you weaker. A rock will make you stronger, but you'll be slower too. Or a plant will make you healthier, but you'll get hit easier too. They all work like that…Anyways-"

She set the brick down in front of her, then continued. "I can put spirits into stuff like this, and two things happen. For one, they become part of the physical world, so everyone can see them. Also, they get a lot stronger, based on whatever their soul is attached to. This is called 'confining'."

Marona stopped and gave Toushirou time to process everything. In the background, the little spirit danced around a bit. After a few seconds Marona said, "Do you get it?"

Toushirou was very quiet. At that moment he was going over his previous evaluation. Had he misjudged this girl's powers? He had thought that it just brought spirits to the physical plane before, and that's why Ash had been able to kill that hollow so easily. But if she could actually make people stronger… "…show me."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "She already showed you. Or were you not paying attention?"

Toushirou shook his head. "No, I mean, do it to me."

Marona put her hands on her hips and frowned. "You're being awfully needy," she said in a scolding tone, "It's not exactly easy to do, you know. Besides, you haven't even said please. Why should I confine you to something?"

Toushirou grit his teeth. He could explain why he wanted this, but it would take hours. Besides, he just wanted to confirm a suspicion. After all, if his suspicions were correct, then she might actually be very useful. "I can't explain everything right now, but if I'm right about something I'll tell you."

Marona gave Toushirou a questioning look, as if she didn't quite trust him. "Do you promise?"

Once again Toushirou's eye was twitching. It seemed to be doing that a lot lately. "Yes," he said, trying to keep his voice even, "I promise."

Marona suddenly grinned happily and said, "Okay!"

Then she slid down to her knees and placed her hands on the brick in one swift movement. At first Toushirou didn't feel anything, but as soon as the brick started to glow he felt something tugging at his body. It felt as though something were trying to pull him apart, and it made him feel vaguely sick. Suddenly his vision changed, and he was standing right in front of Marona.

For the most part it felt the same as being in a gigai. However, there was one big difference: he felt stronger. It wasn't just a minor increase, either. He felt as if his power had increased by at least twenty percent. He took a few steps away from Marona to give him ample safety distance, then pulled out this zanpakutou and swung it testily. It responded similarly, feeling the same increase in power as its master. All if this left Toushirou in awe.

Then he noticed Ash, who was currently reaching for his own sword. "Calm down," he said as he played around with his zanpakutou a bit more, "I'm just testing it."

Ash stopped, but he kept his hands on his sword. Toushirou didn't know what Ash planned to do, since he would be ridiculously outmatched if he tried anything in his current form. His thoughts drifted back to this power, though. How could a little girl be able to do something as amazing as this? He had to see what the limits were. Now, Toushirou wasn't one to randomly destroy things just to show his power, but even he had his moments. He picked a rather large tree and took a swing at it, making sure to not hit it with the sword, but rather with his reitsu. Even with just his reitsu the tree was cut down effortlessly. He noticed that his swing was slower and that he didn't move quite as fast, but those things weren't his primary thoughts. "Amazing," he said, more to himself than anything else, "This power…"

Suddenly he felt something hit the back of his head, and he went flying forward and fell flat on his face. When he landed he was back in spirit form, and all of that power he had temporarily gained was gone. With a growl he looked back, and he saw Marona standing just behind him, the brick at her feet. "What did you do that for," he said angrily.

"You big bully," she said, not showing the slightest bit of fear, "Who do you think you are, cutting down helpless trees like that! You can't just do whatever you want!"

If looks could kill, Marona would have dropped dead at that moment. Toushirou was very angry. After so many years he had finally found a way to win the war, and it was this little brat who cared more about trees than other beings! "You…"

"Start talking," Marona demanded suddenly, which caught Toushirou off-guard. He blinked in confusion and Marona added, "You promised! Now, tell me why you care so much about my powers!"

Count to ten. Breathe and count to ten. That's what kept his anger in check at that moment. He had to remind himself that yelling out the secrets of the Gotei 13 was no way to go about winning a war. "It's secret," he said.

Marona started to protest, but Toushirou interrupted her and said, "Yes, I know I promised. It's top secret, though. Even if I were to tell you, it would have to be somewhere where nobody could hear us, and I doubt you have a place like that."

'And I have personal reasons,' he added silently, more for himself than anyone else, 'If I told you about the war, I would have to tell you about her…'

For a moment Toushirou's cold exterior slipped, showing the worn down teenager underneath. It was quickly replaced, though, and Toushirou was back to normal. He scolded himself for letting his mind wander to depressing thoughts, and just as he was doing that he noticed that Marona was getting angry. No, that was an understatement. Marona looked like she was about to throw a fit. "But you promised," She cried out, "Why did you make a promise if you weren't going to keep it!"

Toushirou was about to protest some more, but at that moment Ash picked him up roughly by the collar and lifted him to eye level. That wasn't too high off the ground, of course, but Toushirou's legs were dangling in the air. "Listen," Ash said evenly. He was calm, but anyone could tell that he was just holding his anger in. "You made a promise to Marona, and you're going to keep it. If it's really that secret we can go back to Phantom Isle first, but you're still going to tell her."

Toushirou narrowed his eyes. He didn't like being threatened. "Oh yeah? Who's going to make me?"

Ash tipped his head slightly to the left, indicating for Toushirou to look over there. He did, and he saw no fewer than fifty spirits there, all looking angry. "They are," Ash said.


	4. 4: Danger

_I'm sorry for taking so long with this chapter. You see, I lost touch with my beta. She hasn't emailed me back in...well, like five months. XD I didn't really want to post this un-beta'd, so I put it on hold while I looked for a new beta. Unfortunately, I couldn't find one with knowledge of both canons. Such is the trouble of crossovers. Ah well. If any of you would like to beta, feel free to drop me a line. I really want to continue this fic, and I'll continue regardless of weather I have a beta or not, but having a beta is always better than not having a beta._

oOo

Abarai Renji was not amused. Toushirou had been gone for a week now. Normally that wouldn't be a problem. Things came up, he knew that. There were two key points that bothered him, though. For one, Toushirou wasn't being clear about his reasons for taking so long. If he had directly stated the reason for his absence then Renji wouldn't have cared. Toushirou was being sneaky, though. Whatever it was, he didn't want anyone finding out about it quite yet.

Which brings us to the other problem: some of the other captains were speculating as to the reason for Toushirou's absence. Renji hadn't been a captain for long, but he was already tired of all the gossip. Renji hated it. There was a war going on, for crying out loud! They should be focused on surviving, not who was in trouble that week!

Actually, all of the drama could be traced back to one source. It was the new captain of the ninth squad. It had been easy to pick the captains of the third and fifth squads: Kira Izuru and Hinamori Momo had truly risen to the challenge. After their captains had left those two trained day and night, and using a few tricks they managed to grow to captain strength quickly. Luckily they had already been training for that purpose beforehand: Izuru had done so at the insistence of his former captain, and Momo had done so because she wanted to 'be strong for Aizen.' It was also lucky that the betrayal hadn't shattered their spirits, either, or else the Gotei 13 would have been in a real pickle.

Shuuhei couldn't become captain because he didn't know bankai at the time. (He had decided not to train with Izuru and Momo, for some odd reason. Renji still didn't know why he had done that.) Renji had wanted to take over for the ninth squad at that point, but he had been denied because of his part in rescuing Orihime. Instead, a ninth squad seated officer had stepped forward, and he had become the new captain.

From the start he was causing trouble. His favorite way of pointing out problems in plans was through tactless sarcasm, and it did a number on everyone's patience. Unfortunately, they couldn't kick him out: Renji and Ikkaku were the only others who were strong enough to replace him, and neither man could take the job (Renji because of politics; Ikkaku because of a personal choice). Apparently an annoying captain was better than no captain.

Renji was starting to doubt this decision, though. At first he hadn't been bothered by it, but that was because he didn't see this annoying captain regularly. But after Momo died and Renji became the fifth squad captain (they had finally forgiven him for running off by that point), his opinion changed greatly. Some days he would have loved to just punch the bastard's mouth in. Like today.

At today's captain meeting he was going on about Toushirou and how he was a bad captain for staying in the human world for so long without a clear reason. "I am bothered by Captain Hitsugaya's lack of information," he said to the other captains, "Anything could have happened to him. Messages this cryptic could be a sign of trouble. That's why I think we should send some people to investigate."

"More investigating," Soi Fong said, sounding annoyed, "You always suggest that. Captain Hitsugaya is one of us! He said he has a reason for this, so we should support him, not hinder him with an investigation."

"She's right," Izuru said, "Has Captain Hitsugaya ever given us a reason to question him? I think you're being a bit too hasty, Captain Kadono."

Renji knew that this wouldn't stop the annoying captain, though. It would just rile him up more. His assumptions turned out to be true, and Kadono said, "This is the problem with the Gotei 13! You're all too worried about formalities and past deeds! Aizen never gave us any reason to question him, and look at what he went and did!"

There was a general grumble of dismay among the captains. This happened far too often. Kadono pulled out 'the Aizen argument', as it had been dubbed by some of the other captains, any time someone tried to tell him he was full of shit. What was pathetic was that it worked most of the time. The other captains didn't necessarily like Kadono's ideas, but none of them wanted a repeat of that betrayal. Usually it was enough to make them fold.

However, today Kadono had gone too far. Hitsugaya was probably one of the most loyal captains. He was probably the least likely to betray them, and the mere suggestion that he might turn on them was enough to make everyone uneasy. Several captains spoke up at once, but soon they were all silenced by the first squad captain, Yamamoto-Genryusai. "Enough! This bickering will get us nowhere. Yes, I am as bothered by Hitsugaya's actions as the rest of you, but he has not broken any rules. We will all have a talk with him when he returns, but until then we will leave it be. Dismissed!"

Renji let out a sigh of relief as he filed out of the room with the rest of the captains. Why did Kadono feel the need to direct the topic of discussion to whatever he wanted every single time they had a meeting? It was annoying, and even the general of the Shinigami was getting irritated. And, of course, there would be a lot of talk following this meeting.

Once outside, Renji met up with two vice-captains: his own, a young man, and Matsumoto Rangiku, Toushirou's vice-captain. She spent a lot of time with Renji nowadays. This was to be expected, though: she was closest to Toushirou and Renji, especially since their time together in Karakura with the others. It wasn't that uncommon to see her hanging around the fifth squad's offices, especially since Toushirou had disappeared into the human world. Talking with Renji seemed to set her mind at ease.

For a short while the three of them walked in silence. Renji knew not to say anything right away, since he usually said unkind things after a captain's meeting. It was better if those things were said out of earshot of the other captains, too. Rangiku was the first person to say anything, actually. Once they were a good distance away from the meeting room she said, "So, did Captain loudmouth have anything interesting to say?"

Once that was said, Renji immediately let go of his previous patience. "You're not going to believe this," he said, "He was attacking your captain."

"Captain Grumpypants," Rangiku repeated in disbelief, "No way! He never does anything wrong. What was he complaining about?"

"His absence. Kadono thinks that we should go investigate to see if Tou's doing anything wrong." Renji growled. "That guy even used 'the Aizen argument.' Can you believe that? There's no way in hell Toushirou would betray us."

Rangiku made a 'tut-tut' noise. "That's sad."

She paused, then grinned. "Say…you're using the Captain's first name. He wouldn't like the informality, you know."

Renji's eye twitched. Yes, formality was a bit part of Toushirou's life. The grumpy teenager wasn't here, though. "Meh. I'm a captain too. He can live with it."

Rangiku laughed at Renji's lack of manners. It was definitely a breath of fresh air around here, where everyone was uptight. Renji even looked happy for a moment, but he quickly became serious. "You know," he said, "I have no idea what he's doing, but he better hurry up. Things are only going to get worse as long as he's gone."

oOo

To their credit, Ash and Marona waited until they were back on Phantom isle before pestering Toushirou again. He had said that they couldn't talk in public, after all; there must have been a good reason for that. Nobody talked for the entire trip home. Once they set foot in the house, though, all previous silence was gone. "Alright," Ash said as he shut the door, "We're out of public now. Why are you so interested in Marona?"

Toushirou, to say the least, wasn't happy. He didn't really want to explain everything to them. It would take several hours to go over everything, and it dug up painful memories that Toushirou would have liked to keep buried in the past. At this point he couldn't help it, though. It looked like Marona was about to become a very important player in this war, and he had to keep her on his side at all costs.

Before starting, he glanced around the room and felt out the surroundings. He couldn't feel anyone in the room besides Ash, Marona, and himself. It seemed to be safe enough, so he started to talk. "I'm sure you've figured out what I am by now."

"A spirit," Marona stated.

Toushirou stared at Marona in disbelief for a moment, then slowly shook his head. "That's not what I meant," he said, "I meant what I do, my job."

"If I had to guess," Ash said, "I would say a grim reaper."

That was close enough, so Toushirou said, "Something like that. Basically, there are a lot of people like me. We purify the corrupted spirits, and we send the complete spirits on to the next life. The big difference between what I am and he "grim reapers" you know of from stories is that we don't actually kill humans. We just come along after people are already dead."

Ash snorted. Toushirou assumed that Ash had been left on Earth for quite some time, which would explain his negative feelings. "There are only so many of us," he said, looking at Ash as he did so, "A little under four thousand, the last time we counted. At any given time, only a few hundred of us are in the human world. With over six billion people in the human world, you can see why it takes us some time to get to everyone."

Ash looked away. He was clearly uncomfortable with that statement. Toushirou continued with his explanation. "Well, we've been involved in a war recently. The hollows have gotten stronger, and they continue to get stronger everyday. We're getting stronger too, but we can't keep up with the improvements these hollows are making. In a short time they'll surpass us, and we'll be beaten."

There was a short silence, and Marona took that moment to speak up. She said, "But There must be someone who can do something!"

"There is."

Ash looked up at him expectantly, and Toushirou said, "Things are about to change, and you, Marona, will be at the center of it."

Marona looked worried when Toushirou said that. Ash stepped in front of her protectively and said, "If you're thinking about using her for your war, you can just forget it."

Of course Ash would not like that idea. Toushirou had been expecting it. Being here for a week had been more than enough for him to see that Ash was very protective of Marona. He couldn't let that stop him, though. This was bigger than any of them. "You don't really have much of a choice in the matter. Regardless of what you want, the nature of your powers is going to make both sides seek you out. You're just lucky that you went this long without being discovered."

"And we'll go on longer without being discovered," Ash said defensively, "These islands are in the middle of nowhere. Nobody ever comes here. Besides, I can protect Marona."

Marona gently grabbed Ash's arm. "Ash…"

Toushirou sighed. "I wish it were that easy," he said, "but these monsters are a lot stronger than you. I'm warning you, that line of thought will only result in disaster."

"I can protect her," Ash said, sounding angrier by the minute.

Toushirou wasn't about to give up, though. He had to make Ash see how important this was. Raising his voice a little, he said, "You'd turn your back on the world-"

He didn't get to finish his thought, though. At that moment Toushirou felt a strong presence approaching the island. It definitely wasn't friendly, either. He cursed mentally as he immediately went on the defensive and headed outside. Ash and Marona must have felt it too, because they were following him without asking any questions.

They were strong; Toushirou could tell that already. There were two of them, and they definitely weren't normal hollows. It was lucky that they weren't espada, but even gillians could be dangerous. Already Toushirou had a feeling of dread. As per the rules, he had a limit placed on his powers. Even in a time of war those limits were never removed without special permission. If there was only one of those things, or if Toushirou didn't have the limits on his powers…

As it was, though, they were royally screwed unless he came up with a plan. Marona wasn't dead, so they couldn't flee to Soul Society without extra setups to accommodate her. Running in general wouldn't work either, since they were on an island and didn't have any place to go. The only thing they could do was fight, but Ash wasn't prepared for something like this and Toushirou knew he wasn't strong enough to fight both at once. "Think," he yelled to himself in his mind, "Think! There's got to be a way out of this!"

Toushirou stopped in the front yard, and Ash and Marona weren't far behind him. "What's going on," Marona cried out, "What's that horrible feeling? Is it a hollow?"

"No," Toushirou said, sounding very serious, "It's something much worse."

He had to fight. Even if he died in the process, he had to protect Marona. That girl was the key to winning the war, and she couldn't be lost here. As long as he killed the two Arrancar heading their way, everything would be okay. Toushirou kept repeating that in his mind, even as his foes appeared on the sandy beaches of this island. As long as he killed them, it would be okay…

oOo

Rangiku sighed as she leaned back in her chair. She was having a little get-together with Renji and his vice-captain, but for some reason she couldn't sit still. She had a strange feeling, like something just wasn't right. Renji's vice-captain noticed Rangiku's antsy ness and said, "Are you alright, Vice-Captain Matsumoto? You look unwell."

Rangiku waved him off as she said, "I'm alright. I just can't be still. I've got this feeling, like I've forgotten something important or something."

" 's probably nothing," Renji said, "You forget stuff all the time. If it's really important, someone would come here and tell you."

"I suppose you're right," Rangiku said, but she still felt unsure. She tried to write it off as nothing, but that feeling stuck with her.

"Could Captain Hitsugaya have gotten into trouble," the vice-captain asked, and when Renji and Rangiku looked at him strangely he hastily added, "I mean, I've heard stories about friends knowing when their friends are in danger. Maybe it could be something like that, since you're his Vice-Captain and all."

When Renji and Rangiku continued to stare at him, the timid vice-captain looked down at the floor and apologized profusely for making such a suggestion. "Calm down," Renji said, "We're not gonna attack you or anything."

Rangiku smiled a little at this situation. This vice-captain, while he had been a Shinigami for a while now, had only become a seated officer within the last year. It must be intimidating, to be around all these powerful people. She said, "Renji's right. Besides, the captain is smart and strong. Even if he were in danger, he'd be able to get himself out of it."


	5. 5: Scream

It was unfair to say that Ash was unfazed. He was pretty scared, in fact. These creatures- they looked like hollows, but were much stronger than the ones Ash had seen before- were pretty damn powerful, and he was aware of the fact that he might actually lose. This fact scared him. He wasn't about to let his fear control him, though. Trying to calm his fears, Ash stepped forward, in front of Toushirou.

This most definitely caught Toushirou's attention. "Hey," he said to Ash, "What do you think you're doing?!"

"What does it look like? I'm going to fight. I won't let anyone hurt Marona." Ash sounded a lot more confident than he actually was at that moment.

Apparently Toushirou wasn't pleased with this. He reached forward and grabbed a hold of Ash's arm and said, "But you can't beat them! Even I can't do it right now, and I've trained for decades!"

Ash pulled his arm out of Toushirou's grasp and said, "I'm different than you."

Then he looked back to Marona. Marona nodded to Ash, and then focused her powers on him. Soon Ash's spirit had joined with a nearby rock, and he was ready to fight.

This wasn't an entirely hopeless battle. Ash actually did have the strength to fight on-par with a Numeros-level Arrancar now. However, there were a couple things that kept this from happening.

The first thing was that these Arrancar didn't fight fairly. Instead of fighting one-on-one, they both attacked at once. And, since Ash was the one that had stepped forward, he was their target. He found it difficult to keep up with two at once, and thus he couldn't effectively defeat either of them.

The second problem was Marona's choice in confining materials. A rock would have been a good choice for a regular battle, as it greatly increased his strength and physical defense. Neither of the Arrancar could get a good hit on him, because it just plain didn't hurt him. Ash also found that he could damage the two Arrancar, though it was mostly shallow wounds. This was fine, though; since the Arrancar couldn't hurt him physically, he could theoretically just chip away at them until they were defeated.

However, every good thing has a downside, and this current arrangement had two: speed and magical resistance. Ash was as hard as a rock, but he was as slow as one too. As soon as the Arrancar figured this out, they were able to dodge his attacks easily. And, when physically attacking didn't work, one of the Arrancar tried an energy blast. Since Ash's resistance to any nonphysical attacks hadn't changed, all it took was one high-powered blast to knock him to the ground and out of the fight.

The last thing he heard, was Marona screaming his name, and before he blacked out all he could think was, 'I've failed her. I've failed Marona…'

"ASH!"

Marona rushed forward to help her fallen friend, but Toushirou stopped her with his arm. She tried to push past him as she said, "Let me go! I've got to go help him!"

Toushirou still didn't let her pass, though. He knew that those two Arrancar would kill her the moment she stepped past him, and he had to protect her at all costs. "It's okay," he said, sounding calm, "He's alright. If you try, you can still feel his spiritual presence. He's hurt, but he's not gone."

"You know, he's right," one of the Arrancar said to the other, "That one's not dead."

"I'll fix that quickly," the other said, preparing another blast.

Before he could fire it, though, Toushirou jumped into action. With one quick swing of his sword Toushirou stopped the Arrancar's blast and effectively distracted them. "You better forget about him," he said, "You've got bigger problems now."

The Arrancar, of course, just laughed at him. "You think you'll do any better," one said, "You're barely stronger than him! We'll wipe the floor with you!"

Toushirou began to plan at that moment. His bankai wouldn't last very long, so he had to make sure that he could end the fight with it. He would have to wear them down with his shikai first. This presented a problem, though. Toushirou's shikai would probably be about as effective as Ash's attacks had been, and he definitely didn't have the defenses that Ash had. He would get beaten up a lot quicker, so he had to make every strike count.

While Toushirou fought with the Arrancar, Marona ran over to Ash and checked him over. Toushirou had been right: Ash was hurt, but still alive (well, as alive as a spirit can be). So, Marona decided to use some of her other abilities to help Ash.

Marona's main power was definitely her ability to confine spirits to objects, thus making them stronger. However, her parents also had spiritual abilities, what with being Chromas and all, and Marona had inherited a couple of them. One of those abilities was healing powers. It wasn't very strong, and she probably could only ease his pain a little, but it was better than nothing. She healed Ash up a bit, then turned her attention to the fight between Toushirou and the two Arrancar.

It had taken Marona a few minutes to heal Ash, and in that time the battle had turned against Toushirou. He had managed to seriously injure one of the Arrancar, but the other still looked fine. On top of that, Toushirou was seriously hurting. He was bleeding from several cuts on his body, and his uniform was scorched. He was able to keep up for now, but the injuries were starting to slow him down.

That second Arrancar was being difficult. Any time Toushirou tried to get near it, it would just fire another bala or cero blast at him. He just couldn't move quickly enough or hit with enough power to take him out. He could try his bankai now, but even with that strength he might not be fast enough to hit this Arrancar. On top of that, there was still the other one to worry about.

'Just a little more,' Toushirou told himself, 'Injure that other one just a little more. Then you'll be able to kill them both with bankai.'

Before Toushirou could do that, though, the Arrancar he was fighting managed to land a good hit on him, knocking him to the ground. He struggled to get up as the Arrancar laughed at him. "What's wrong, little Shinigami," the Arrancar said, "Getting tired?"

Toushirou glared up at the Arrancar, but he knew that he was doomed now. He was barely holding his own before, and now he had a large gash down his front and was bleeding heavily. There was no way he could win now.

Unless…

Damnit! How could he have forgotten?! "Marona," he called out, "Use your power on me!"

Marona cried out, "But it didn't help Ash!"

The Arrancar looked a little bored now. Apparently he was done being amused by these people. He said, "I'm done playing now. Time to finish you off," as he rushed down towards Toushirou, sword pointed at the Shinigami's back.

The Arrancar was only a few moments away from the killing blow, and Toushirou knew that this was his last chance. "Please," he screamed, "Marona!"

Finally Marona acted. She chose the closest thing to Toushirou, a small nut, and focused.

The Aarrancar's blade fell, but a split second before it struck Toushirou disappeared, and the blade hit the ground. "What the hell," the Arrancar said, looking at the ground in disbelief, "Where'd he go?"

"Behind you," The other Arrancar called out, "Look out!"

Toushirou struck before the Arrancar could move. In one swing, and with only shikai, Toushirou killed an almost uninjured Arrancar. Then, in the blink of an eye, he was over at the second Arracar, and he killed that one just as quickly. Both Arrancar disappeared, leaving behind no evidence that they had been there.

There was still some time left before Toushirou unconfined, and he managed to get to the ground before he collapsed. As soon as he did, though, Marona got up and hurried over to him, calling out, "Mr. Hitsugaya!"

She kneeled down next to him, looking concerned, and said, "Mr. Hitsugaya, are you alright?"

Marona looked over Toushirou's wounds, and Toushirou hissed in pain as she did so. "…I've been better," he said, "But I'll live."

"Here," Marona said, focusing her powers again, "I'll heal you. Don't worry, you'll be better soon."

Truthfully, though, Toushirou wasn't worried anymore. The Arrancar were dead, and they all were still alive. What's more, the massive spike in his powers when he killed those Arrancar would set off signals in Seireitei, and his comrades would soon come to this island and take care of the wounded (and, ultimately, find out about Marona's powers and how useful they are). No, Toushirou wasn't worried at all. It was quite the opposite, actually. For the first time in nearly twenty years, he was able to relax.

Over in Seireitei, everyone was in a panic. The monitors that the twelfth squad kept an eye on had picked up on Toushirou's fight, and they were now going haywire. The research department was busy trying to compile the data and make sense of it, and the others were arranging a rescue squad for Toushirou. This squad consisted of two captains, Renji and Izuru, and a seated officer from the fourth squad, and they were ready to go fairly quickly.

Renji was worried about his friend, but he was more concerned about the strange readings the twelfth squad had gotten. He had seen the data: Toushirou should have lost that fight. But there was that strange spike in energy, and somehow Toushirou was still alive. What had caused that? Why did things turn out like this?

That wasn't to say that Renji was ungrateful. No, he was glad that Toushirou had survived. All of this strange data worried him, though. As they traveled to the human world, Renji couldn't help but wonder if this energy was what had kept Toushirou away for so long.


End file.
